Zola calm about promotion prospects

7 April 2013

Gianfranco Zola insisted there was no pressure on his Watford side after they lost ground in the race for automatic promotion.

Taken on its own a goalless draw at home to npower Championship leaders Cardiff is not a bad result, but with second-placed Hull beating Middlesbrough earlier in the day they are now three points adrift of the Tigers.

"I don't consider it two points dropped. It is a good point against the top of the league team. I believe we tried everything we could to win the game. The reason why we didn't win is because they are a tough team to beat and it's no coincidence they are in the position they are," Zola said.

"I'm not complaining, we tried everything we could and probably in the second half we created the opportunities to win the game. I believe with one, their goalkeeper was outstanding and another one maybe we were a little bit unlucky."

This was Watford's third home game in a row without a win but Zola added: "I don't have concerns. Of course we want to win all the games but I am delighted we are still in a position to play games like this. We have no pressure. The pressure is on others.

"We are doing everything we can to be to be in the position where we are and to improve it so we don't have any pressure. If the others don't win the game then we'll see but we have to make sure we keep playing with the same enthusiasm and the same positivity we've had so far. We're going to try and win all the games and see what the others can do."

The point moved Cardiff another step closer to promotion and boss Malky Mackay was content.

"I'm very pleased with the intelligence of my team's performance," he said. "We came away from home and kept a clean sheet against the highest scorers in the league. But for Troy's (Deeney) header and a good save, I thought we kept them very quiet.

"We kept a clean sheet, it's our 16th of the season, I thought we started really well, we passed it really well and in the second half they obviously had to come at us and were chasing us. They were at home, they needed to win. So I thought it was a real dogged and intelligent second half in terms of the way we played and stopped the spaces in behind us."

Mackay added: "To be challenging at the top of the league I think you need a bit of everything in this league. You need experience, you need energy, you need youth, you need goalscorers, you need clean sheets, you need a mixture of it all."